Call the helpline and ask, they'll confirm the latest position for you.

When your income goes down, the first £2500 reduction is ignored (same as when it goes up), but with 15/16 £11300, then £6879 for 16/17, the income used for 16/17 will be £9379. If £11300 was used for the whole year instead, there could be a refund of an underpayment. If instead your income was adjusted to an expected amount of £8000 back in October, the adjustment would have been made already to £10500 for the year. Look at your award and see what it says was used to calculate your entitlement, there could be a small amount of underpayment due when the claim is finalised.

If you're on tax credits and taking a lump sum from a pension pot, I'd advise you contact tax credits with details, they may not agree with your assessment of how it should be treated.

Any amount lump sum from pension pot income taken is treated as having 25% of it as tax free. You don't have a tax free amount to withdraw in it's own right. EG £17600 in pot but in one tax year you take 2 lump sums of £1000 each payment. Each payment is treated as having 25% ignored as non-taxable so £250 ignored and £750 counted as additional income in the year, giving a total of £1500 extra income. As it is counted under Other income, same rules as usual for Other Income apply, in that the first £300 of all Other Income in the tax year is disregarded, so the £1500 becomes £1200 to be included as income for tax credit calculations for entitlement, as long as that is the only Other Income in that tax year.

If you choose to deal with LCS, contact them about a repayment schedule over a period of time, including if you simply want to delay and then pay in a lump sum. If you have requested the debt goes back to HMRC, once that's happened, get in touch with HMRC overpayment helpline and get an agreed repayment schedule with them.

Single, as long as neither of you provide any financial support to each other (other than for children), is the quick answer. If still confused, call the helpline. Were you previously in a joint claim? Is it less than 3 months since it ended? If so, you could get a new single claim dealt with over the telephone and save the delay.

It sounds as though you failed to complete your Annual Declaration (S17), sent out each year to confirm details of the claim and houseold circumstances for the previous year, and to make sure income and circumstances used for calculating and making ongoing payments is correct. Which year declaration was it? For example, if the declaration is for the 2015/16 period, you might be having the wrong income used, causing an overpayment to be shown for that year. Further, if you had payments made from 6th April 2016, all payments made from that period onwards, while HMRC were awaiting the declaration to be made, will automatically become overpayments whether you meet the eligibility criteria or not, because you failed to provide the data needed to verify ongoing entitlement in time. You can tell LCS you want the debt passed back to HMRC and deal directly with HMRC. HMRC will still look to get any overpayment back. If you believe you still have an ongoing entitlement, get in touch with the helpline and look to make a new claim, as any entitlement could help towards any outstanding debt.

Carly1111, as you are making a new joint claim, if you are entitled to payment as a couple, you should probably dispute the overpayment when it comes through for your single claim. This is to get HMRC to check any notional entitlement you may have. This is in effect to take away from any single claim overpayment, any payment you may have been due had you claimed correctly as a couple. It won't necessarily cover all the overpayment, but it could make a serious dent in the amount you have to repay.

Do you share or pay towards any of the bills at your partners address? Any financial links between you, for example supporting her with your money, shared accounts or financial obligations? Do you have any association with the address such as having used it as an address for any kind of financial transaction such as a credit application, car tax or insurance? If they ask to see her financial records, such as bank accounts, and there's a bill that can't be traced to her account or earnings, it may be read as you providing financial aid, potentially creating a scenario that could require a joint rather than single claim be made. Having a separate address isn't always automatically justification for making a single claim.

Glad you called them before the deadline was reached, should stop debt being passed to a collection company before you get a chance to discuss with CAB. Cab will help deal and give advice about dealing with your debts and your issue with rent and landlord, so continue to get in touch. Having someone to speak to face to face can help feel someone is sharing your problems! I apologise! THe letter attached to your first post is the reponse to your Mandatory Reconsideration and is dated 09 January 2017, so well within the timescale for disputing the Overpayment. Please send the Appeal request asap. If you look at what they say under the heading HMRC Evidence and Observations, these are the points they appear to be using to decide you were in their view in a continuing joint relationship. Addressing these points would help when submitting your appeal. They say you haven't provided sufficient bank statements. You should be able to get these from your bank covering the period. The aim is to show what income you had coming in to your account and how you used it to pay household bills. Without clear evidence of you doing so, and without bills or similar to show that any amounts you didn't pay, such as for council tax, remain an outstanding unpaid amount, they are assuming someone else paid them. You have the eviction notice from your landlord, which I expect is addressed to you alone. Does it confirm the period from when you were deemed a single tenant and only you are responsible? That and perhaps the confirmation your ex is no longer liable for any rent or arrears from the date he left the address may help. If you paid any bills using cash, you may still have a receipt, but you would have to be able to show where the cash came from if not from your account. With regards to live financial accounts, unless you were to open any post addressed to your ex, you may not be aware what he has registered at the address. This is a problem where people continue to pass on mail instead of returning it marked as not known at the address, especially if they continue to have a reasonable follow on relationship after a breakdown. For example, did you continue passing mail when he came to see/collect the children? I don't imagine many people consider updating an ex details from the voting register. Not an automatic consideration. If your ex was/is employed and didn't update an employer about his change in domestic arrangements, you wouldn't necessarily have known. Yet again, any letters sent to your address that were passed on would have helped him maintain the belief he was at the address. Provide the employer details and check if you can if he did update them at any time, and when. You say only one other landlord was willing to provide confirmation he was at their property. It's better than none if you can confirm it. With regrds maintenance for the children, would your ex be willing to confirm in writing what the arrangement between you was, including his agreement to cover the cost of the internet service and why? Any other regular payments he makes for childrens costs, and whther these are in cash to you or paid directly as part of his agreement to support his children. These are all details that can help a tribunal potentially draw a different conclusion than HMRC. Just points I'd suggest you may want to cover as part of your appeal.

First, what date was the latest decision from a mandatory request? You should dipute the overpayment, but it should be done within 3 months of the date of that decision. See https://www.gov.uk/tax-credits-appeals-complaints/dispute-tax-credits-overpayment. I would also recommend getting an appeal to the tribunal sent asap, including the info you've shared in the forum already, and possibly including the answers to the following - A few questions - You advise ex left February 2015 initially. Do you have any copies of info fron anyone to support that date, such as removal services? Emails or letters from people helping to facilitate the move, and able to confirm where the move was to? Would your ex be willing to provide details of any accommodation he used and confirmation from anyone he lived with following leaving you? Does he have any bills/receipts for expenses from other addresses during that time? Is your ex employed/self-employed? Would the amount of tax credit be the same if he had been in the house or out? Is his income over £18000 gross PAYE/net profit self employment? The amount of overpayment could be reduced when taking notional entitlement into consideration. Get help locally from CAB if possible in relation to discussing overpayment recovery. They can help with creating a reasonable I&E form on your behalf. Get in touch with HMRC by the date advised to begin disuccion on repayment options in the first instance. It doesn't mean you accept it is correct, but HMRC require contact by the date notified. Do you have a copy of your request for your tenancy agreement from your landlord, and a copy of their response refusing to provide it? Do you recall passing any bank/financial letters to your ex following the breakdown? Who paid your household bills for the whole of the claim period? Did you pay by card or cash? Receipts? Did you have a joint bank account? Did you change to a single account? Do you have a pension whereby your ex is the beneficiary? CSA - Ending their involvement since 2014. Sounds like you had a Family-based arrangement since HHBD, also known as family arrangements, voluntary arrangements or private arrangements (see http://www.cmoptions.org/en/other-arrangements/endingcsa.asp). Was there anything in writing between you outlining what support you'd get? It can seem quite daunting, but CAB can help deal with discussions around overpayments so you aren't on your own.

They wouldn't share information they have no need to know. They may ask for condirmation of details you've already provided in relation to them.

MR and appeal, but by not taking action at a reasonable time you may well struggle to get anywhere with it, not having a good reason for not doing so.

I would advise you re-apply for an appropriate disability benefit. The reality of cases going through HMRC would not support any entitlement to your previous qualifying criteria still counting. Even in the magistrates courts, they rubber stamp so many of the cases in HMRC's favour. It isn't unusual it seems for no-one from HMRC to turn up at appeals. They have a lot of faith in magistrates in my experience.

It can happen randomly. You could also have put down an amount of hours and not reached an expected income level? You aren't alone.